Breaking News

109 Parents Name Their Baby 'Tesla' In 2018

There were other car-inspired baby names in 2018.

When I read this headline it reminded me of a "Key and Peele" skit where a mother was suing the drug industry for stealing the names of her kids, like 'Lunesta' or 'Allegra,' it was hilarious! So I had the same reaction when I read parents were actually naming their kids after 'Tesla' and other car faves! Wow!

The Social Security Administration says that 109 babies born in the United States in 2018 were named Tesla, down from 143 in 2017. The name is far more popular for girls than for boys, and started gaining momentum in the early 2010s. Baby name website Nameberry says Tesla is of “Slavic, Serbian, Croatian origin meaning ‘from Thessaly’.”

Other babies also got car-inspired names in 2018: Chevy (176 babies), Mercedes (236 babies), Lexus (40 babies), Audi (18 babies), Ford (419 babies), Bentley (3,393 babies,) and Dodge (15 babies.) There are likely more babies named after cars out there as well, but for privacy reasons, the SSA only releases data on names given at least five times in a year.

So let's say you had to name your kid after the first car you owned, what would it be? Mine? Barracuda! I like it! ~grace